Setting up Easy Voice Recorder to prepare for recording on your Android device

Using Easy Voice Recorder on an Android device Do you have an Android phone or tablet? Easy Voice Recorder is a good app for recording audio. Before you make your first recording, though, there are some essential things to set up. This is a recap of the setup walk-through I gave at Rootstech when I presented on using Android (and iPhone + iPad + iPod touch) to record family interviews.

If you haven’t done so already, download Easy Voice Recorder at the Google Play store. It’s free. You can get the Pro version for $3.99. (Go ahead, give the developer some love and coin. I definitely recommend the Pro version if you’ll be using an external microphone like the Edutige EIM-001, because you can adjust the gain [volume] setting in the Pro version.)

What steps are covered here

  • Change all the audio settings to CD-audio quality WAV files. Must. Do.
    If you’re going to the trouble of recording an interview, you (and your family member, and posterity) deserve to have the best sounding audio you can get.
  • Change the display of the record button to from white red. Nice to do.
    Red makes it easier to tell at a glance what to tap to begin your recording.
  • Customize the name of your audio files. Optional.
    This one is completely at your discretion, but if you’re on a family visit and conducting a set of interviews with a person about a topic, it will help you know what’s what.

Setting up Recording Settings to get High-Quality Audio

If you only have time or patience to do one thing, do this. It makes all the difference between cruddy sounding audio and nice, high-quality audio. At the end of the set-up, you’ll be creating audio recordings at the same resolution quality as the Audio CD standard. Your files will be saved as .WAV files.

Why not compressed MP3 or AAC or WMA or some other audio file format? No need. File compression is necessary when storage space is expensive, or when transfer speed is a consideration —such as immediately uploading a file to the cloud. Storage for audio will not break your pocketbook. At all. If you have an Android phone that has a slot for a microSD card, the cost of a card runs roughly one dollar per gigabyte. For less than ten bucks, you can get an 8 GB card that will hold 26 hours of audio (recorded in mono format, which is standard for Android devices). That’s enough for a family trip with multiple interview sessions, with space left over! So make your recordings using a solid full-resolution standard: 16-bit, 44.1kHz uncompressed WAV file.

Here’s how.

  1. Open Easy Voice Recorder, and tap the menu button or action bar for your device.
  2. Locate the Settings option, and tap it.
    3. The Settings menu appears.
  3. Locate the Recording menu item, toward the top of the list.
    Tap it.
    4. The Recording menu options appears.
  4. Locate the Output format menu item.
    Tap it.

Changing Recording Settings, 1: Opening the Settings menu list, selecting the Output format item (continued next image)

[Note: Click to embiggen any of these images]

    The Output format floating contextual menu appears.
  1. Locate the Tap the Highest quality: PCM item. Tap it.
    2. The contextual menu item disappears.
  2. Scroll down the list and locate the Sample rate list item.
    Tap it.
    3. The Sample rate floating contextual menu appears.
  3. Scroll up to locate the 44100hz (cd quality) menu item. Tap it.
    4. The Sample rate menu disappears.

Changing Recording Settings, 2: in Output format, selecting Highest quality: PCM; Selecting Sample Rate and setting it to 44100hz (cd quality). (continued next image)

  1. Locate the 16-bit PCM list option on the Recording menu list. Tap it to check the item.
  2. Tap the back button twice to return back to the main Easy Voice Recorder screen.
  3. Locate the line underneath the microphone icon. Verify that it reads this line:
    44100 Hz 16-bit PCM mono

Changing Recording Settings, 3: in Recording settings, checking the 16-bit PCM option. Once completed, you should see the resulting settings underneath the microphone icon in the main screen of Easy Voice Recorder.

You’re now ready go record!

Setting up the Recording Settings, a review:

Easy Voice Recorder > Settings > Recording > Output format > Highest quality: PCM

Easy Voice Recorder > Settings > Recording > Sample rate > 44100hz (cd quality)

Easy Voice Recorder > Settings > Recording > 16-bit PCM ✔

Changing your Display Settings

This is a quick change to Easy Voice Recorder that makes it easier to recognize the Record button at a glance. (Anything that makes it easier to tell what you’re doing—in a split second glance—is a major win and worth doing.) 

  1. From the main Easy Voice Recorder screen, tap the menu button or action bar for your device.
  2. Locate the Settings option. Tap it.
    3. The Settings menu list appears.
  3. Locate the Display list item. Tap it.

Changing Display Settings, 1: Accessing the Settings menu list and the Display settings (continued next image)

    The display menu list appears.
  1. Locate the Colored recorder button item. Tap so that the checkmark appears.
  2. Tap the back button twice to return to the main Easy Voice Recorder screen.

Changing Display Settings, 2: Clicking the checkmark to display colored recorder button. The result, when done, is a red recording button.

Now, when you want to record, just press the red button. Easy.

Changing the Display Setting, a review:

Easy Voice Recorder > Settings > Display > Colored recorder button ✔

Customize the name of your audio files

This final configuration settings is optional. You’ll be okay with the default file names of My recording #1.wav,  My recording #2.wav etc. But it’s always nice to give a set of recordings names that are more meaningful. If you take these next steps, you won’t have to look at My recording #14.wav and wonder, “What is this audio file?”

Here’s what to do.

  1. In Easy Voice Recorder, tap the menu button or the action bar for your device.
  2. In the menu that appears, locate the Settings item. Tap it.
    3. The Settings menu list appears.
  3. Locate the Storage and naming menu item. Tap it.
    4. The Storage and naming menu list appears.
  4. Locate the Custom file prefix item. Tap it so that it is checked.
    5. The File name prefix (which had been grayed out) is enabled.

Changing the File Naming Settings, 1: In the Settings menu list, accessing the Storage and naming menu options and clicking the checkbox to assign a Custom file prefix (continued next image)

  1. Locate the File name prefix item. Tap it.
    2. The keypad and text-entry dialog appears.
  2. Erase the default File name, and type your new file name.  When you are happy with your name, tap OK.

Changing the File Naming Settings, 2: Selecting the File name prefix item and starting to delete the default file name (continued next image)

    The keyboard and text entry dialog disappears, and your new filename appears under the File name prefix menu list item.
  1. Tap the back arrow twice to return to the main Easy Voice Recorder screen.

Changing the File Naming Settings, 3: Entering in the new file name prefix, seeing it displayed in the Storage and naming menu, and seeing the new name displayed in the main screen of Easy Voice Recorder during a recording.

When you press the record button, Easy Voice Recorder displays the filename above the microphone icon.

Customizing your audio file name, to review:

Easy Voice Recorder > Settings > Storage and naming > Custom file prefix ✔ > File name prefix > [Enter your file name]

There you have it: Three things to do to get Easy Voice Recorder ready for recording interviews.

Did you just use this to get set up? Please say so with a Tweet!

Related: If you are using an older Android device (pre Android 4) and a Mac, here’s more about how to get audio from your Android to your computer.

The Everything Rootstech 2013 page

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Posted by Susan A. Kitchens on April 25, 2013 in • Android • Audio • Audio: Software
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